WILKES-BARRE - A man was shot and killed early Saturday morning in the city.

Renold Julien, 26, of Wilkes-Barre, died from gunshot wounds he suffered in a shooting in a parking lot outside Locals 88, a bar at 86-88 Poplar St. His death was ruled a homicide, said Luzerne County Acting Coroner Bill Lisman.

Police headed to the bar at Poplar and Arch streets at 2:12 a.m., but by the time they got there, Mr. Julien was gone, according to a supervisor at the county 911 center. Police officers canceled an ambulance because there were no patients at the scene.

Friends drove Mr. Julien to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, and that hospital transferred him to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Twp., Mr. Lisman said. Mr. Julien was pronounced dead at Geisinger around 4 a.m., and an autopsy later that day confirmed he died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Attempts to reach Robert A. Nicoletti Jr., who holds a liquor license for Locals 88 according to a state Liquor Control Board website, were unsuccessful. Alicia Crich, who left an apartment above the bar Saturday afternoon, confirmed someone was shot in the parking lot and said the bar wouldn't be open Saturday night.

Police said they do not think the shooting was random, but city spokesman Drew McLaughlin could not be reached to explain what led to that conclusion.

The corner has been the scene of violence before.

In November 2012, at least one person was shot after a dispute at the bar.

In February 2012, a man with a shotgun robbed a Burgit's City Taxi driver who was waiting for a customer outside. In August 2009, authorities raided the establishment, then named the Poplar Inn, as part of a string of drug busts at several sites in the area.

Contact the writer: bwellock@citizensvoice.com, @CVBillW on Twitter

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